TBD's 2020 Gravel Race Calendar
With the first race of the 2020 season just 50-odd days away, we are already finalizing some of the focus events on the team’s race calendar. On the road side of things we’ll be at all of the usual East Coast races in and around New York City, including the big three of Central Park, Prospect Park, and FBF. But on the gravel side we have a plethora of new events planned, from the biggest races in the sport to more grassroots events closer to home — our complete list of 2020 gravel events follows below.
Some of these races require some luck from the lottery gods (we’re looking at you DK200) and there are a few races that we already missed out on (sad emojis for Mid South and Big Sugar), but whatever happens, expect to see a lot more gravel on the TBD Journal in 2020. Along the way we are going to be teaming up with some friends to bring extra in-depth coverage from a few of these events, and we’re sure a few additional events will get added to our schedule over time. Stay tuned, consider joining us at some of these events, and of course, hope to see you at the races.
For NYC area riders, don’t forget that we also have a full calendar of New York City events across all disciplines - gravel, road, MTB, track, and CX - on the To Be Determined Race Calendar.
Details on the TBD 2020 Gravel Calendar
Old Man Winter Rally (Colorado) - Feb 9
A bike race in February? In Boulder? It sounds crazy, and last year’s sub-20 degree temperatures at the start sure had us questioning our sanity. But it was actually pretty fun. The race hits some of the dirt roads between Boulder and Lyons, and for the truly adventurous, the 100K edition includes a ~1 mile hike a bike section and a freezing descent into Boulder. As per usual on the front range, a few pretty fast pros almost always make an appearance if you care to really test your very early season fitness.
Website: https://oldmanwinterrally.com/
Rasputitsa (Vermont) - Apr 18
Rasputitsa was one of the first gravel events that we bought into as a team - and we’re looking forward to yet another year of spending an early Spring weekend in Vermont tackling the beautiful dirt roads around Burke. Over the many editions of Rasputitsa, we have experienced absolutely beautiful weather, absolutely atrocious weather, and everything in between. We’ll just have to see what the 2020 edition has in store.
Website: https://www.rasputitsagravel.com/
Belgian Waffle Ride (California) - May 3
One of the originals, and one of the greats, we’re excited to be working on our first ever trip to BWR. Coming just a few weeks before Kanza, the pros should be out in force and it will be a nice break from the mixed early Spring weather that visits us so often at Orchard Beach. We’re still finalizing our roster for BWR, but we’re looking forward to experiencing it firsthand and bringing home plenty of stories for the TBD Journal.
Website: https://belgianwaffleride.bike/
Farmers Daughter (New York) - May 17
Farmer’s Daughter Gravel Grinder in Chatham, New York has a different vibe from just about every other event on our 2020 gravel calendar. Smaller in scope than Rasputitsa or D2R2, but still one that sells out in advance of event day, there is no timing or placing, but still plenty of informal competition to go around on the road. It’s the ultimate Dad-Fondo. As Cullen wrote about last year (after breaking a rib mid-event): Farmer’s Daughter, get it while it's weird.
Dirty Kanza (Kansas) - May 30
What can we say about DK200? It’s the Super Bowl of gravel, plopped down in the countryside of Emporium. It is big, and crazy, and one heck of story. Assuming the lottery gods cooperate, we’ll be there to experience firsthand. And if the lottery gods don’t cooperate? Well then I guess there is always 2021 — when Clay is trying to convince me to tackle DK200 on a tandem.
Website: https://dirtykanza.com/
Oregon Trail Gravel Grinder (Oregon) - June 17-21
Another new one for To Be Determined in 2020, we are particularly drawn to OTGG’s mix of race/not-a-race. And the fact that Oregon Trail Gravel Grinder traverses some of the most beautiful landscape anywhere in the country doesn’t hurt either. We’ll have a half dozen riders from the NYC and CO squads in attendance, including some of our most prolific photographers, so you can expect to see much more about this event on the Journal later this year. We are also excited for glamping and hope no one contracts dysentery.
The Steamboat Ramble Ride (Colorado) - July 15-18
The Ramble Ride, a four day point to point supported bikepacking adventure from Fort Collins to Steamboat, was one of our favorite events last year. We met people, we had fun, we thought we might not make it, we were eaten by mosquitoes. But we loved it, as you can see in our Reporting from the Ramble Ride. This year is a bit longer than the last, including a jaunt into Wyoming. In the West, it’s a bit more of a big deal to ride into another state!
Website: https://ramblerides.com/2020sbr/
Rod, Michelle and Bill ride into an ominous sky on their way to the top of Buffalo Pass in 2019.
D2R2 (Massachusetts) - August 15
D2R2 was easily one of our favorite from the 2019 season. As we wrote about in “D2R2: Harder than I Expected, More Fun than I imagined” the event brings a relaxed vibe to the gravel format. Sure, you can hammer the whole ride if you want, but you can just as easily take a casual approach to this New England classic. This is undoubtedly a large scale event, but not one that sells out nine months in advance, and the roads and trails never feel crowded in the way that some of the new generation of gravel events can.
SBT GRVL (Colorado) - August 16
Steamboat Gravel, or SBT GRVL as I suppose it is spelled, is another one of those new events that rocketed straight to the top of the gravel scene. Barb was in attendance at last year’s inaugural edition and came back raving so much about the event that we’re flying a good chunk of the NYC squad out to Steamboat for the 2020 race. We’re still not dead set on whether we’re doing the black course or whether, with the leap to elevation that we’re not used to in NYC to stick with blue, but we are pretty certain this is going to be a heck of a good weekend in Colorado. We might even come back with cowboy hats.
Website: https://sbtgrvl.com/
Roads like these…
The Overland (Vermont) - August 23
The Overland has been a TBD favorite since its inception. It sold out in about five minutes this year, and for good reason. The course is a mix of paved road, hard pack, and several fun Vermont Class IV jeep track or “pavé” sections, which can be hike a bike territory depending on equipment and rider skills. On-site camping included. We give the Overland high marks for organization, short (44mi) but rowdy course, spectacularly diverse VT scenery, and most of all top notch rest stop and post-race food and drink. Also, we give a nod to the promoter who saw a disparate ratio of M to W registrants and opened an unlimited W category to help even things out.
unPAved (Pennsylvania) - October 11
This is a brand new event for the team - usually we spend fall months locked into a busy cyclocross race schedule, but for this year we are planning on making an exception and paying a visit to unPAved in in Central Pennsylvania. The photos of prior editions look beautiful and fall is one of our favorite times of the year to venture into the woods.
Website: https://www.unpavedpennsylvania.com/
Iron Cross (Pennsylvania) - October TBD
Iron Cross was around before gravel grinders were A Thing. 2020 will be the event’s 18th year running, and every year the promoters serve up an exciting mix of gravel, single track, double track, and open road, and a whole lot of climbing. Capped at only 200 riders, this is a small event with a homegrown feeling but complete with the perks of free merch and chip timing. Riders can decide how much they want to endure with the option of a long (64 miles, 6400ft of climbing) and short (45 miles, 4,600 feet of climbing) route. The extra 20 miles will get you some more single track and but both routes will bring you to the run-up and a visit to the much-famed Larry’s Tavern.
Liz at Iron Cross 2019.
What We know We’re Missing in 2020
The Mid South (Oklahoma) - March 14
One of the top events in the sport today, the newly renamed Mid South promises to bring out all of the biggest names in gravel. Unfortunately it is also an event that sells out months in advance, just minutes after registration opens. We missed the boat for 2020, but there is always 2021.
Website: https://www.midsouthgravel.com/
Big Sugar (Arkansas) - October 24
It is an impressive thing, starting a new gravel event and immediately having it move to the top of everyone’s race calendar. Unfortunately this is another one where the race sells out quickly, almost a full year in advance. So just like Mid South (and Dirty Kanza if the lottery gods go against us) we’ll be on the sidelines here, but keeping this on our 2021 event list.
Website: https://www.bigsugargravel.com/
Know an event that should be on our calendar?
There are new events popping up nearly every day - so many that it can be tough to keep track of. If you know an event that we should put on our calendar, particularly if it’s on the East Coast or in Colorado, let us know: Team@ToBeDetermined.cc
A New York City based cyclist and sometimes photographer. Part adventure rider, part crit racer, and fully obsessed with an English bulldog named Winifred.
Instagram: @photorhetoric
E-mail: matthew@tobedetermined.cc
Recapping our annual pilgrimage to the Rasputitsa Gravel Grinder in Vermont